Mutant Freak or What?
by ZeMonstarrOfSquishy
Summary: People live in a bubble. A bubble where nothing too out of the ordinary could happen, nothing that would change there lives so completely. My bubble was burst the day I grew wings.
1. A Bash Gone Bad

Some people are normal. Some people are special and get noticed, like celebrities. Or you could be like me. And trust me, I am not normal.

I grew up as your average kid does, apart from being adopted when I was 4, but I have no memory of what happened of my life before, but things changed when I was 16. I was going to my school disco, like every ordinary kid did and my life has never been the same since.

My best friend, James, had finally persuaded me to go, I had never gone before since I didn't like the thought of a disco, with loud music and girls wearing as little as possible, the thought made me feel ill. To add to my misery, Miriam, the most popular and, in my opinion, the nastiest girl in school would no doubt be there. I don't know how James persuaded me to go. Most people could never say no to James, he was always the top of his class and the most handsome (and fittest) boy in school, with his dark brown hair, ice blue eyes and strong jaw line. Miriam always tried to get him to go out with her, but he wasn't interested in her or any other girl. My parents always said I'd eventually get married to him and we'd always make 'yuck' faces at them. People often thought we were going out, but we weren't, I could never go out with James, he was too much like a brother to me and he felt the same way.

I hadn't done anything special to get ready for that night, like most girls did. I had just put on my red Doc Martens, a dress and dragged a brush through my ash brown hair. James was waiting for me by the school gates, "Amelia Rose Knightley. I have been waiting here half an hour, where have you been? I know you haven't been getting ready all that time." he said gesturing to my normal, everyday clothes, I rolled my eyes, "It isn't like you've been out shopping for a special outfit all day!" He grinned and then grabbed my hand and pulled me into the disco.

It was dark, loud, busy and oppressive. All the things I hated. All the reasons why I hadn't gone before. Halfway through the night, I went to get a drink, it was starting to get really stuffy and all the people were beginning to crush me. As I walked to the drinks table I knocked into someone, "You IDIOT!" I closed my eyes at the familiar shriek of Miriam and waited for the slap that would no doubt follow. It did and it still stung, even though I had felt the pain countless times before. When I opened my eyes, I saw Miriam standing in front of me, fury personified, her two cronies, Chloe and Amy, were scowling along with her. Their dresses, if you could call them dresses, had extremely little material and I wondered how they got into them as they were so very tight. Miriam looked at me loathingly with her black pebble eyes that most boys found attractive, but I found disconcerting and then, surprisingly, she walked away to a group of boys who were standing in group by the drinks table, where my destination was. I saw her flick her hair and the boys sighed as they breathed the scent of her shampoo and then she got to work. She turned round and pointed at, all the time talking animatedly about something that the boys evidently found hilarious. I scowled, no doubt she was making up some story that made me into a fool. Suddenly, James was beside me, "Are you alright?" He said, bending my head gently to see if she had hurt me, "Yeah, I am, thanks James." But I wasn't, I was fed up of Miriam ruling my life and slapping me for existing. I felt a surge of anger hit me with a force not unlike what I would imagine being hit with a tidal wave was like. The next thing I did, I couldn't help, I stretched out my hand and willed the bowl of punch to spill over Miriam's not-quite dress.

And it did.

The people around her yelped and jumped away from her as she gave an ear-piercing scream and I gave a little gasp. James immediately pulled me outside, "What on earth was that!" He said in a worried whisper, he looked freaked. I was feeling freaked. "I don't know! I just got angry and stretched out my hand and viola!" I snapped my fingers, "It was all over her!" James looked like he wanted to be anywhere rather than here, "You expect me to believe you threw the punch all over her with nothing but sheer force!" He exploded, "Amelia! I am NOT an idiot! Things like that don't happen!" He took me by the arms and started shaking me, "You did not do that. You didn't pour that punch all over Miriam with nothing but force." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself, I tried to squirm out of his hold, "James! Let GO!" I said with a shove. He let go of me and he looked like he had an idea, "Amelia. Do you believe that you did that?" I nodded my head firmly, "I don't BELIEVE I did, I KNOW I did." His expression turned smug, "Ok then. Prove it." I felt crest-fallen that he was treating me this way. I knew I couldn't do it again, I was feeling drained after all the emotion and wanted to go home and crawl underneath my cover and never come out again.

"James. I know I did it. I can't do it again though, I'm feeling so tired and I just want to go home!" I said, starting to cry. Why wouldn't he understand me? I had a sudden, horrible, thought, "James? I'm not crazy? Am I?" I asked, horror stricken.

James gave me a look that told me that that was exactly what he thought, "James! Take me home right now! Please!" I said desperately, clutching at his broad chest. I felt faint, like I was going to be sick and I needed my parents. He took my hands and disentangled them from his sweater, "Mia. If you think that I am going to take you home then you've got another thing coming. If you're crazy, then how do I know you're not going to pull me down some dark alleyway and murder me!"

I wondered how the argument had gone from pouring a jug of punch down Miriam to murdering James in a dark alleyway, "Jamie!" I cried, using my nickname for him that I only used when we got into a fight, "I'm not going to MURDER you! How could you even THINK that! THAT is crazy!"

James shook his head, beginning to walk back to the school building, "Later, Mia."

I felt angry tears streaming down my face. How could he do this to me? Or more importantly, what was happening to me? Oddly, I didn't feel too shocked or disturbed about what I had done. I mean, of course I felt shocked and freaked, but not terrified. I wiped the tears from my eyes and started to walk wearily home.


	2. A Mutant Freak?

When I got home, I saw my parents sitting on the sofa, watching an old movie starring Audrey Hepburn. It was probably mum's favourite, My Fair Lady. They turned around upon hearing the door shutting, "Darling! What are you doing home so early!" As I stepped into the light, mum noticed the tears that still streaked down my face, "Oh darling! What happened?" She asked gushingly, getting off the sofa and quickly folded me in a hug. From over mum's shoulder, I could see dad looking at me worriedly, "Nobody tried to hurt you?" He said, his face darkening and hands balling into fists. I gave a choked laugh, "No, dad, it's nothing like that. It's been a... weird evening." I said, thinking that that was a massive understatement. Dad's face immediately relaxed and his hands uncurled; clearly relieved. Mum, however, looked perplexed, "Honey, what happened?" She asked confused.

Immediately, I tensed. I hadn't thought of an excuse for my tears and arriving home early.

_How am I going to explain this? Maybe I could tell her that a jug of punch got knocked over Miriam and I was blamed? That would be pathetic to cry about. Maybe I should tell them about my fight with James? It would explain why I'm crying._

That seemed like a plausible excuse, so I told mum the gist of what happened, leaving out the part that I had been the one who did it with pure force, of course. Mum and dad looked pacified that I hadn't been physically hurt and mum made me some hot chocolate and invited me to sit down with them while they finished the movie.

When I climbed into bed, somewhat calmed by my parents comforting, I thought about the day after tomorrow. I was dreading seeing James again and wished for the hundredth time that I hadn't gone to the disastrous party that had begun this whole mess. Then again, maybe it had been better. I shuddered at the thought of me doing it in school. Next time, if there was a next time, I felt that rage I could tell my teacher that I was sick (which maybe I was, in the head?) and run out of class? I didn't know if it would work, I doubted that Mr. Pike would allow me out of the classroom unless I was about to be sick and I couldn't lie. I had never felt that I could lie to anyone, or that it was right to. Some people had accused me of being blunt, but every time I told a lie, I felt sick to my stomach with guilt and shame. So I vowed never to lie, unless it would save people's lives or something crazy like that.

_1 DAY LATER_

Monday started out pretty uneventful, I hadn't turned into a little green creature or sprouted horns. I walked to school on my own; I usually walked with James, but given what had happened on Saturday I didn't expect or want him to keep me company so I guess it was fine for both of us. I took the long way to school to make sure I didn't bump into him. I was worried about seeing him at school and about what he would say or do. I was pretty certain that no-one would believe him if he said that I had telekinesis.

I got to the school gates and saw James standing at the door looking as though he were searching for somebody, we locked eyes and he started to walk towards me. I panicked and hurried over to a girl called Katie, who I talked to when James was off sick, "Hey Katie, what's up?" Katie looked up, startled, "Amelia? Why are you talking to me?" She said, confused, she realised what she had said and blushed, "I mean, James is here, why aren't you hanging out with him?"

I didn't get a chance to explain as the person in question reached us, "Rosie!" He said, using my nickname that he hardly ever used apart from when he was trying to apologise. I looked down, hardly ready to face him just yet. To my relief, Katie spoke up, "Hey James! Y'alright?" Whenever I talked to Katie, she always made sure that I wasn't going out with him, I was pretty sure she had a huge crush on him; he didn't give her a second look though, "Hey." He said distractedly, nodding at Katie, who looked a bit put-out at his vague greeting. He took a step towards me and I quickly stepped away, "Distract him."I whispered quietly in Katie's ear, she didn't need any encouraging as she immediately started babbling away to him, "See you later, Katie." I said to her and waved, jogging towards the school doors; she smiled at me and gave me a subtle thumbs-up.

The whole morning I could feel James' eyes boring into my back. I felt nervous about lunch when he was free to talk to me, but when lunch time came I walked quickly to the girls' toilet and locked myself in one of the stools. I had been getting hot and cold flushes all morning and suddenly I had a heat attack that made me feel as though I was in the midst of a fire. I screamed through my clenched teeth, thankfully nobody was in the toilets. I took off one layer after the other, first my blazer and then my shirt, when it stopped. I collapsed onto the toilet when I felt strange and painful sensation across my back, I reached out to touch my back when I felt something strong and feathery, the feel of my fingers travelled up whatever it was and sent tingles of pain down my back. I slowly looked around, scared of what I might see.

Dark, glossy, charcoal grey wings had grown out of my back. I barely had time to register what I was seeing before black filled my vision and I passed out.


	3. Telling Mum and Dad

I woke up groggily to hear faint voices and a thumping sound on the door, "Hello! Are you alright! Should I get help?" A girl's sharp, frantic voice filled my ears and immediately brought me back to the weird, unreal, present, "Uh, I'm ok. I guess." I had a dizzy spell, which caused me to groan and the voice started to shrill again, "I'm going to come in, ok?" She said, starting to twist the lock from the outside, "NO! IT'S OK, REALLY I'M FINE!" I shrieked grabbing my top, and trying to pull it over my head before remembering I had wings. When the girl spoke again, she sounded an bit hurt and confused, "Oh, uh, ok! Well, I hope you get better soon." She said before going. I breathed a sigh of relief before I realised my situation. I had wings. I didn't know how to use them or fold them or even if I could move them. They weren't stretched out fully, since the cubicle was too tiny. I guessed my wings were about 15 ft across and I didn't know if I could disguise them under my top. I tried folding them to press against my back, it hurt the first few times but then I managed to do it eventually. I pressed them firmly against my back and pulled my shirt over them. It was a snug fit, but it was better than I imagined. I fell out of my cubicle, still a bit dizzy and pained from earlier.

I staggered back into the lunch hall, looking deathly white. Whenever I was pale, my mum joked with me that I looked like a vampire, the white of my face contrasting dramatically with my dark hair, so when Katie saw me, she grinned "Mia, you look totally Twilight. It's a good look for you." I smiled faintly at her and I think she clicked that something wasn't quite right. "Amelia? Are you ok?" she asked worriedly, I felt my face crumple and tears start to roll down my face. Katie immediately got up and wrapped her arms around me and helped me into a chair and ran to find a teacher. Mrs. Bower, the headmistress, was closeted up in her office, which was at the back of the lunch hall and so was the nearest option. Katie ran up to me, dragging Mrs. Bower with her, "Here she is, I don't know what's wrong with her!" Katie was talking, looking a bit pale herself, I was lolling in-between a state of unconsciousness and only caught a few words, "I... car... home..." I heard Mrs. Bower talking distantly to Katie. I felt myself being scooped up by a strong pair of arms; I was vaguely worried that that person would feel my wings before passed out again.

I woke up in my own bed with my mum crying quietly beside me, "Mum?" I whispered, feeling weak. Her head snapped up and promptly burst into tears again, "Oh darling!" She choked out stroking my face, I managed to smile at her, feeling my strength coming back, "Hey, I'm fine now. Really I am. How long have I been out?"

"You were out for a day, it's Tuesday now, sweetie. Oh! I need to call your poor father! He's been so worried for you."

Mum went to call dad and then came back into my room, I thought about telling her about my wings but I couldn't bring myself to just yet. Dad rushed into the room and gave me a huge hug, "I'm so happy to see you again, sweetheart." He said, his voice muffled by my hair, "Me too, dad, me too." I said softly. Dad pulled back from the embrace and stood up, "James has been here quite a lot. He's been so miserable, I think he was terrified that he wouldn't have the chance to apologise before you... you..." He stopped awkwardly, not knowing what to say, so I said it for him, "He thought I was dying?"

Dad nodded, "We all were, honey."

A couple hours later I got up, feeling a tiny bit weak but otherwise I was fine. James had called to see if I was better and apparently was ecstatic when he heard that I was better, even though I had told Mum that I didn't really want to see James, she invited him over anyway, saying that "The poor boy was worried sick about you" and that "it was only fair".

James knocked on my door tentatively, "Amelia?" He asked softly. I was listening to my iPod and sketching on the floor. I looked up and saw he looked tired and untidy, his hair was sticking up in all different directions and had rings around his eyes, I pulled out my earphones and stood up. He smiled at me, "I missed you." He said, sounding as if he hadn't slept for days. I grinned, "Well, I'm back and I'm bad. You'll soon be wishing I was comatose again." Suddenly, his face grew serious, "I could never wish that."

He hugged me tightly, I felt a wetness on my cheek and realised he was crying. I smiled into his shoulder, "James, it's ok now, everything's, well, almost everything's fine now." He pulled back and asked me what wasn't fine.

Since he already knew about the telekinesis, I was a bit more willing to tell him about the new development, "James, you know about Saturday?"

He looked chagrined, "About that... I behaved like a total jerk, I realised later that there was no other explanation about what happened. I guess I was just majorly freaked. Can you forgive me?" He looked at me hopefully.

I smiled at him, glad that he'd finally thought it through, but wanting to get back to the matter at hand, "Yeah sure. Anyway, something happened at school yesterday." I said, preparing myself for his reaction. His eyes widened a bit, "You did it again?" He asked, I shook my head, "No, but, um, I, uh..." I suddenly didn't know what to say, not knowing if I would be able to handle it if he reacted in the same way as he did on Saturday. I had an idea, "James, you know I moved that punch bowl with nothing but force?" He looked confused, but nodded anyway, "?" James looked like he was trying to work through my jumble of "embarrassed female talk" as he put it.

He grew pale and he sat down on the edge of my bed, "Are you saying that you have... wings?" He asked faintly. I blushed and nodded, taking of my sweater to reveal my huge wings. He looked like he was about to be sick, "James? You're not going to be sick are you?" To my surprise, he chuckled, "You look like an avenging angel." He said, some colour coming back into his face.

"Turned poet, have we?"

"Not in your wildest dreams. I'm not as freaked out as I thought I would be about your wings, are you?"

"Nope. I just kinda freaked out for a bit and then I was fine."

He laughed, "We're so weird, aren't we? Anybody else would be screaming and running 'round like headless chickens and we're just chilling."

He looked at me intensely for a couple of moments and then gave a half-grin, "It's good to see you again."

I smiled at him, "Yeah, I missed you."

"I think my heart almost broke when you avoided me at school." He said, striking a dramatic pose

I threw a cushion at him, "You, sir, are one drama queen. Anyway, what do you say 'bout getting a take-away and a movie?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."


	4. Stalkers in Suits

The next few days no other big changes happened, other than my eyes and hair seemed to be darker, my skin was a bit paler and more flawless and, somehow, I was a lot fitter and thinner, muscles that I didn't have to work for appeared. I decided to keep it that way and joined the schools running team. James and I hung out more than ever to prevent any bullying from Miriam and her cronies.

On Wednesday, I had a race. I was the second fastest person on the team apart from Miriam, who only did running to show off her figure, boys always hung out at the track to see her practice, so she made full use of the track.

I was stretching when Miriam walked up to me, "Stay behind me or you're so dead." As lame as it sounded, I couldn't help but shiver at her threat, Miriam had made threats before and the first time I hadn't heeded her warning, she had carried out her threat and no one had protected me or believed me when I said it was her, so I learnt not to discard her threats so easily.

James came to wish me luck, "Hey princess, thrash them for me, alright?"

"Mm'kay"

We lined up at the start line, placing our feet in the blocks. Miriam looked over me and gave me a chilling smile, before the gun went off.

I set off at a fast pace, keeping just behind Miriam, remembering what she had said to me. I felt free of worry when I was running, like I wasn't a freak, like I didn't have wings. Miriam was holding me back from my full potential and I resented her for it. Suddenly, I didn't care about Miriam or her gang, James could cover me if they tried anything, so I sped up, flying past Miriam. I circuited the track within a couple of seconds and started on my second lap. I streaked past everyone else and even dared to stick out my tongue to Miriam as I passed her for the second time, she flicked me the bird. I noticed everyone was looking at me like I was a freak or something. Oh, wait. I was a freak. I slowed down and jogged to the finish line. Everyone burst into applause and coach ran up to me screaming, "9.8 SECONDS! 9.8! YOU HEAR ME? THAT'S SECONDS!" He turned to the rest of the team, "THIS IS MORE LIKE IT, GUYS!"

James hugged me, whispering, "That was too close, Mia, tone it down a bit. You're going to be attracting too much of the wrong attention." I nodded and then looked at the crowd.

It was mostly teenagers with a couple of teachers, I recognised all the people apart from one man who was staring at me. He looked pretty intimidating with a crew cut, with sunglasses and a black business suit on. He moved his coat a fraction and I saw a glimpse of a gun holster. I turned to James immediately, a now fake smile pasted all over my face, "We've got to get out of here now. A guy with a gun is watching us." He stiffened, "Pretty cliché, huh?" He said nervously.

I looked back at the team as we walked off, Miriam was glaring at me, but I didn't care. I had more important things to look out for now.

When we were out of sight of the man, we started sprinting towards James' Vespa, "I am seriously freaked out right now. So, I have guys following me now? This is CRAZY!" James chucked me my helmet while pulling on his own, "Yep, now get on."

He revved up the motor while I adjusted my position and then we sped off, I looked behind me and saw the man coming into the car park, watching us leave.

"That guy's watching us. Do you think he's a stalker or something?" I asked James, hoping that it was true, but knowing that it was impossible. James laughed grimly, "I wish, sweetheart. Someone knows about you."

I froze, feeling sick. Why hadn't I thought of that? It was so obvious.

"We need to know where your parents adopted you from." That was another thing, I was adopted. It was a closed adoption, so I didn't know a thing about it. I wasn't that bothered about it until now.

I swallowed, "Yeah, I guess so. Do you think it would be a good idea to show my parents my wings and tell them what happened on Saturday?"

"No, not yet. We don't know if they can be trusted yet, we need to be 100% sure."

My temper flared up, "Are you saying that my parents aren't trustworthy?" I said, angrily as we pulled into my street.

"No, I'm just saying that we need to be sure, that's all."

I saw his point and fell silent. We parked the Vespa into our driveway, "Keep your helmet on until we're inside the house." James said looking behind him to see if anyone was watching us.

We unlocked the door and went in, "Mum? We're home!" I called, Mum didn't work and she was normally home all day.

Mum came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a tea-towel, "Oh hey guys. Why are you home so early?"

"We came home as soon as the race finished. I won." I said, not feeling excited about my victory.

"Oh honey! Well done! What was your timing?" She said going into the kitchen again, we followed her, "9.8 seconds." I said, hoping Mum wouldn't notice how good my time was, "Wow! That's good isn't it? I don't really know what a good time is and what's not but it sounds good. We'll have to have some hot chocolate to celebrate. Dad's coming back early today so maybe we could have our hot chocolate with him!"

"Yeah that sounds great."

"James, would you like to stay for dinner? I could ring your mum up for you, if you'd like." Mum was crazy about James, she absurdly hoped that we would eventually get married one day.

"That sounds great, Mrs. Knight."

"James dear, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Celia?"

"Sorry, I keep forgetting... Celia."

My mum laughed, "You are really too sweet! I'm surprised you still don't have a girlfriend, James." She said looking suggestively from James to me and back again. We both blushed, "Not yet, Celia. I'm not for dating and all that. Going from one girl to the next doesn't sit right with me. I'd rather just wait 'til I'm old enough to marry and to find the right girl for me."

Mum looked appreciatively at James, "Why, James dear, that is such a good plan and so romantic!"

I rolled my eyes, wondering why mums could be so embarrassing, though somehow, I loved her all the more for it.

"Mum, James and I are going to be up in my room, 'kay?"

"Alright, sweetie, see you later." She said turning back to whatever she was baking.

James and I headed up to my room and slumped onto my bed, "Do you really think my mum could be evil?" I said looking sarcastically at James, whose face remained serious.

"We can only find out, Amelia Rose. We'll tell them about Saturday and show them your wings tonight, ask them where they got you."

"Wonder if they are bad and they try something on us?"

"I've made a few precautions, I took my dad's Swiss army knife for protection and I parked the Vespa outside your open lounge window, the one with the sofa right against the wall, so if we sit on that sofa if they try anything we can just hop out onto my Vespa and go someplace."

"Wow, You really thought this through, haven't you?"

"The moment I got back to my house on Monday, I thought that we should take precautions, so I also packed a few things and stashed them away in the cubby holes and boot of the Vepsa, you know, food and blankets etc. I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Thanks James." I whispered and hugged him, curling up on top of his chest, he put his arm around me.

"It's the least I could do after the way I treated you on Saturday."

"James. Will you quit talking about that, I said I've forgiven you!"

"No, you haven't."

"Ok, well I do now."

"Say it then. "

"Ok, Mr. Pedantic, I forgive you."

He smiled down at me, then the doorbell rang and I sprang up from my bed to get it, "I'll get it, Mum!"

James started to say something, but I had already rushed from the room.

I ran down the stairs and flung open the door, throwing my arms around my dad.

"Wow, what a greeting!" My dad said, returning my hug. I laughed, "Well, it's nice to see you home so early!"

James jogged down the stairs, "Hey, Mr. Knight."

"It's Harry, James."

"That's the second time today I've been told off for being polite."

"The first was Celia, wasn't it?"

"Yep, surprise, surprise."

They both laughed and we all went through to the kitchen, where Mum was preparing our hot chocolate, I saw a tray of chocolate chip cookies cooling off on a wire tray. I ran over and popped one in my mouth and threw a cookie over to James, who expertly caught it.

"Mia, really. I thought you would have grown out of this by now." Mum said, disapprovingly.

I smiled sweetly, knowing how to win over my mother, "Your cookies are just too irresistible, Mummy."

She gave me another look, but I could see that I had won her over. Again.

James chuckled and leaned over to whisper in my ear, "You manipulator."

I smiled, "At least I know how to."

James shook his head, still smiling, "Girls!"

Mum herded us into the lounge carrying at tray of cookies and hot chocolate, James and I went to sit down on the sofa that was in front of the open window. I found it especially hard to believe that my parents may be evil, but then again, I did think it was impossible to grow wings.

We talked for a little while and then I decided to take the plunge, "Mum, Dad, I think it's time for me to know where I came from and who my real parents are."

Mum looked a tiny bit offended, "Honey, aren't you satisfied with the life that we've given you?"

"No, Mum, really I love it with you guys and my real parents wouldn't really matter if it wasn't for my... my... um..." I stuttered to a stop.

James looked at me encouragingly and I decided to take the plunge, "My wings." I mumbled quietly.

"Darling, you know how I hate it when you mumble; you've got to speak up a bit." Mum said

"I said, "My wings.""

Mum and Dad looked at me as if I was crazy, "Are you feeling ok? Any nausea, dizziness?"

I smiled, "I know it might seem crazy, at first I thought that I was hallucinating, but they're real. I'll show you." I stood up and pulled my over-sized hoodie over my head and unfolded my wings, stretching them to their impressive 15 ft span. Mum and Dad both paled to unnatural shades of white and then Mum keeled over, landing unconscious onto Dad's lap, spilling her hot chocolate onto the cream leather sofa. Dad ignored all of this and just kept on staring at my wings, Mum came to and realised that the sofa was soaking and got up quickly and rushed to the kitchen to get a towel to mop up the mess.

When she had finished, I had had enough of waiting and, "This is why I want to know."


	5. Vespas vs Motorcycles

Dad was the first to speak, finally getting over the shock of seeing his teenage daughter with wings.

"Uh, how long have you had these... uh... wings?" He asked tentatively.

"I got them on Monday."

"So that's why you were sick?"

"I guess so."

"You've had them for three day without telling us?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Because I was unsure of how you guys would take it." I said, deciding that the real reason would sound a bit harsh, "Anyway, where do I come from?"

Mum spoke this time, "From an orphanage where they take care of babies that were abandoned in hospital when they were born."

I found this piece of information interesting; I wasn't hurt by the fact that my parents had abandoned me.

"So you don't know who my parents were?"

"No."

Mum looked up at me with fear, I couldn't stand it, "Mum, please! I'm not some hideous monster!"

Mum seemed to realise that it was me and corrected herself, "I'm sorry, dear. I guess I'm just a bit shocked. James, aren't you shocked?" She asked peering over at James, who shook his head, "I knew."

I remembered about Saturday and told them about it. James blushed when I told them the part about our fight, so I added "James did apologise and he's truly sorry."

James looked up at me gratefully.

I was relieved beyond words that my parents weren't, as far as I could tell, evil.

We talked a bit more on the subject and then we dispersed.

James and I headed upstairs again, "Amelia?"

I turned around to look at him, "Yeah?"

"Do you think I could stay over for the night? I'm just worried about that guy that was watching you and I thought maybe if I was here then I could at least give you a bit of protection."

"Thanks, James. I'll ask my parents."

Mum and Dad were more than happy to let James stay. They even offered to rent a movie and get a take-away again and have a night in.

James and I stayed up late watching the movie and then we turned the lights off and tried to go to sleep, which was no easy job as we were both still a bit afraid of the man from earlier on.

I must have finally fallen asleep, because I was woken up by James, "Why you wakin' me up? Iss still dark outside." I mumbled into my pillow.

"Shhh!" James whispered urgently, "I can hear something."

That woke me up. I sat up in bed and listened carefully, sure enough, after a while I heard a rattling sound. I gasped in fear, got out of bed and pulled my hoodie on. The rattling started again and then I heard a man's voice swearing.

"James? What shall we do?"

James went over to the window and unlocked it, grabbed his keys to the Vespa and beckoned to me, "Come here."

I went over to him and he gestured for me to step out onto the little ledge outside of my window, then to jump onto the garage roof and after that, onto the ground.

James and I had both taken a bit of gymnastics, which had made us able to be light on our feet and I was able to make very little sound as I did what he said. The man had probably got into our house, as I couldn't see him as James and I made our way quietly to the Vespa. We wheeled it out gently, passed the black car that could only be the men's car and onto the road wearing our helmets when we heard a shout, James quickly turned on the motor and accelerated to full speed, which was only about 45 mph. "There is no way we can escape them!" James said, still whispering frantically.

I had an idea, "Yes we can! Let me drive it!" We both heard the guttural sounds of motors starting up.

We changed positions awkwardly and I turned sharply into a side ally were I knew they wouldn't be able to fit their car down and through some side passes into an intricate puzzle of side roads, streets and allies.

I heard James sigh in relief, "Thank God, now we've at least got some distance between us."

I heard a revving sound behind us, "Or not. What is it, James?" I asked worriedly.

I heard him give a strangled noise, "It's them, Mia, it's a black motorcycle and it's coming so quickly and-"

He was cut off by a crash. We were hurled into the air and then everything went black for the second time that week.


	6. Pests and Tests

I woke up in a white room, lights glaring down at me. I shut my eyes tight again and then remember what had happened, "James? JAMES!" I shout, panicked.

I tried getting up, but I realised that I was strapped to the table, I started thrashing around trying to work loose the straps that held me down.

"It's no use doing that. They do it all the time, but it never works." I heard a woman's clipped tone coming from the left, I tried looking over and succeeded in seeing and business-like woman studying me carefully.

"What other ones?" I asked groggily, feeling as if they, whoever they were, had shot something into my bloodstream.

"The other ones like you."

I froze, "There are others?"

"Yes."

"Are you torturing them like you are me?"

"We're not torturing you. We are merely... investigating, if you will."

"Ha! I would hate to see what you think torturing is then!"

The woman kept studying my face coldly, "I suppose you want to see your friend."

I felt cold all of a sudden, "What have you done with him?" I asked threateningly, feeling that if they had done something to James, then I wouldn't bother struggling anymore.

"Nothing, just the same as you. He's awake now, just like you are. We will let you spend five minutes with him in his room, but you must promise to not struggle when we have to perform some tests on you. Understood?"

I nodded; I would do anything to see James.

She nodded to some guards that I had previously not noticed and they came and un-strapped me. I didn't resist, I knew any resistance would be futile. They put a black hood over my head and I felt myself being led through rooms and then we stopped and they opened a door and took the hood off my head.

I saw James slumped in one corner of the room; he looked rough and scraped after our crash. He looked up sharply when he heard the door opened and when he saw me, he rushed over to me and scooped me up into a giant hug, "Mia!"He said brokenly, I hugged him tighter, whispering quickly, "I will try to get us out of here, I don't know how but I will try and I'll never stop trying."

He tried saying something, but a guard came in and put the black hood over my head and led me away, I heard James shout "Take that hood off her! She's not an animal!" Then I heard a sickening thud and a groan, "JAMES!" I screamed, trying to break free from the burly man's grasp, I felt a stab of pain in my arm and I passed out.

A few tortuous days later, I was visited by the woman again.

"I have decided, after extensive testing, that you are stable enough to meet others of your kind. We are training them at the moment to carry out missions for us and you will be joining them in the training program."

"What sort of missions do you mean?"

"Political ones that I am not going to be talking about" She said pointedly.

A guard unstrapped me from the hospital bed I had been in for the past few days.

"What's happened to James?"

"You'll see." I felt sick. What if they had murdered him?

"What's that supposed to mean! That you've done crazy, horrible tests on him too!"

She refused to talk to me anymore and led me over to the door.

"Isn't he forgetting something?" I said, gesturing at the guard.

"No, from now on, you will not need the hood anymore."

"Yippee." I muttered under my breath, while walking through a few corridors that were all unimpressive and all uniform white.

"You know, you really should try re-decorating. No offense, but your colour scheme is rubbish."

She kept on ignoring me as we walked through a couple of halls and then we reached a door.

"Does this lead to Narnia?" I asked, wide-eyed.

"More like hell." She said with a slight smile, my stomach lurched. If she thought the hundreds of tests I had were so insignificant, then what would this be like?

She pushed open the door and I saw a straight line of kids, lined up against the wall, their positions ramrod straight. Guards flanked them on each side.

"Attention!" One of them barked and they straightened up even more and saluted the woman who nodded at them.

"At ease. This is our newest subject..." She looked at her clipboard, "Amelia Rose Knightly."

Saying this she then left the room.

The guard that had been shouting the commands spoke up, "I'm Erik. Alright, filth, introduce yourselves!"

Each in turn introduced themselves, taking a long stride out of the line, saying their name and stepping back again, like in The Sound of Music.

"Back to work, Amelia can be against Dirk." I wondered what he meant, when all the kids went over to the middle of the hall and started fighting each other. Appalled, I looked back at my opponent, who was a large boy of roughly 17, leering down at me, "Afraid?" He said before taking a swipe at me. It glanced off my eye, sending sparks scattering across my vision. I ducked down, stretched my leg out and wrapped it around his ankles, jerking my own legs back, my plan succeeded and he lost balance and tripped, falling to the ground with a heavy thud.

He roared, furiously swiping at me. He made contact with my forehead and split the skin underneath his knuckles. I lashed out with my leg, aiming at his groin; he let out a scream of indignation and barrelled towards me. He was much taller than me and I was knocked flat to the ground. His eyes were wild with anger.

"No-one."

_Punch._

"Beats."

_Punch._

"Me."

_Punch._

I screamed in agony, my vision was tunnelling and everything sounded faint. The world started spinning causing me to start panicking.

"_No I can't let him beat me!" _I thought to myself.

I punched him in the face with both fists and kicked in the nether regions again. He doubled over, I smacked my hands over his ears and, as he screamed, slammed my fist into his temple. He went down like a ton of bricks, totally unconscious.

I stood over my victim, utterly sickened by the predatory instinct that had overcome me. I threw up onto the floor next to Dirk and wiped my mouth. Erik walked over to me, slapping me on the back, almost making me fall over, "You're good, new comer. Where'd you train?"

"Nowhere."

He frowned at me, "None of them fight that good." And then, to my great relief, he walked away.

It had grown dark and Dirk was pulling himself off the floor. We were escorted to a different hall that looked like a canteen to get our dinner. My eye had started to swell and my forehead was still bleeding. We lined up at the counter, sliding our trays along the rails, we were given an unappetizing dinner of slop.

"What is it?" I asked the dinner lady.

"Stuff that you're going to eat." Was all that she said, waving me on.

I sat down next to a girl that looked like she could've been my age.

I tried smiling at her, "Hey." I said, softly so that the guards who were patrolling us couldn't hear.

"Hi." She said, in a whisper even more soft than mine, "Keep your voice as quiet as possible, they ca hear very well."

"Ok." A guard passed us and we both took a big spoonful of the disgusting looking slosh. I almost spat it out, it tasted even more revolting than it looked.

"How long have you been here?" I asked, once the guard was out of earshot.

"Two years."

I balked at the idea of staying here that long and promised myself that I wouldn't stay here as long as this girl.

"What's your name?"

"Aida."

"Mine's Amelia Rose."

"I know."

We were interrupted by another guard passing us.

"Are you like me?"

"In what way?"

"Do you have wings and telekinesis?"

She glanced at me, eyes widening with wonder, "You have wings?"

"Yep."

"I don't. I'm just amphibious."

"You're what?"

"Amphibious. It means I can breathe under water as well as on land."

"Wow."

We finished our dinner and waited in silence until everybody had finished.

Erik stood up at the end of the hall, "You may go to your cells. Amelia, you will have a cell to your own until your fellow subject arrives."

We all stood up at the same time and filed out of the room.

My cell was an exact replica of the room I had first been in. White everywhere with no furniture except a small wardrobe, which had a few gray jumpsuits inside it and two wooden beds with a thin mat, a flat pillow and an itchy blanket on top. I looked inside the extra tiny little room that was attached to my room, to find a basic bathroom, meaning a toilet, a basin and a tiny mirror.

I went over to the mirror and checked out my injuries, my cut was about 4 inches long and was bruising around the edges. My eye was calming down, but I could see it beginning to go a bit black on my cheekbone. I pulled up my top to examine what damage he'd done when I had been down and he'd continued to punch me. My ribcage was covered with bruises, which were throbbing like crazy.

I went back into the other room and curled up on my bed. Loss crashed down on me like a sudden, horrible, cloudburst. I thought of all the times my parents had hugged me when I was upset, the time when they had taken me to school for the first time, when they taught me to ride a bike. I thought of the other day, when we had been sitting together, drinking hot chocolate and laughing.

I also thought of James, praying that he was safe and not... not... I couldn't let myself think of it, I hunched over, my body racked with sobs.


	7. Another New Subject

I woke up the next morning to sirens blaring down at me.

"GET UP VERMIN! 5 AM MEANS YOU GET UP!" I heard mean voices screaming at the other people in my dorm. I leaped out of my bed and instead of putting on my normal clothes, which were filthy, I slipped on one of the undersized jumpsuits. They were at least 2 sizes too small for me and were incredibly tight, I ripped two wing sized holes and stretched open my wings. My door was kicked open and I ran outside before the guard could drag me out.

We breakfasted on leftover slop from the night before; it was even more revolting in the morning, having congealed into mass of jelly, then we shuffled into the training hall, where we were to train and improve our abilities. I caught a few kids glancing at my wings, I winked at them while Erik was barking out orders.

"Surprisingly, we are going to have another new subject joining us today, he will be staying with Amelia." Erik announced. I froze, what if he were psycho? Or something worse? I tried to calm myself down.

_It'll probably be some 8 year old. Ok, deep breaths. _

The other people were led into separate rooms along with their trainers slash handlers .I was finally left alone in the hall with Erik, who turned out to be my instructor.

_Out of everyone, I had to get Erik, didn't I?_

"Amelia, today we're going to see if your able to use those wings of yours by pushing you off those rafters." He said pointing up to the high ceiling, where I had only just noticed the rafters.

"What if I can't fly at all and fall flat on my face? Or break my neck?"

He grinned evilly at me, "Then you'll have to deal with it."

He sent me over to a store cupboard and told me to get the ladder out, which I did and laid it against one of the rafters. I climbed up first, somewhat awkwardly as my jumpsuit was so tight, followed by Erik. I stood up on the wooden beam.

"Do I really-" I felt myself falling and snapped out my wings, terrified that I would break something if I didn't try. I felt myself being jerked up painfully and then I was gliding, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I whooped, feeling more alive and free than I had for days. I tried twisting sideways to turn; I turned wheeled left sharply and flew the length of the hall. Erik seemed satisfied and barked at me to try landing. I swung my feet forwards and skidded to a halt, ungracefully landing on my rear. Erik climbed down the ladder and picked me up by the neck of my suit.

"Now we practice you telekinesis." He said, sharply.

Erik put a ball a few feet in front of me, "Move that."

I stretched my hand out and tried to summon the anger from the party. Suddenly, I thought that I was rather like Magneto from X-Men: First Class, being able to use my telekinesis through anger. I laughed out loud causing Erik to slap me across the face, which instantly ignited my temper. I felt the anger begin to grow inside me building up to the rage that I had felt previously.

_How dare he do that to me! How dare they keep me prisoner in the first place! And think that they can test and examine me like a piece of meat! These worthless people think they can hurt me and James without getting a reaction! I'll show Erik that I have telekinesis._

I willed the ball into the air and threw it at the wall, changing the direction away from Erik at the last moment; deciding that it would only make life harder for me if I hit him. The ball flew through the cement wall, sailing away until I couldn't see it any longer. I felt the anger leave me and I felt exhausted without its burning intensity. Erik slammed me against the wall, "What do you think you were doing?" He screamed into my face. I looked at him defiantly.

"You told me to move it."

He slapped me again, "You know what I meant."

"Yep and I did what I was told, like a good little subject."

He couldn't think of an answer and walked away to look at the hole I had made. Erik turned around, "You're fixing this." Then he stalked out of the room.

I smiled to myself, although my cheek was stinging from his slap, I felt satisfied I had made progress since last Saturday. I didn't feel exhausted after using my telekinesis and I had learnt how to fly. My satisfied thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the double doors being swung open. I looked around to see Erik marching the kids into the hall, they lined up rigidly against the wall like they had when I had first come, "Order!" Erik shouted, I was really beginning to doubt that he was able to speak normally. I jogged over and lined up with the other kids.

The door opened and I looked at my feet, not wanting to see in what state the new person was in. I still felt horrified about the treatments they had given me. Last night, I had heard a girl's ear-piercing scream and then a gunshot. The next day a little girl of 8, called Tabitha hadn't turned up and we were told that she wouldn't be able to return.

I heard the woman's clipped tone announcing that we had another new subject. I heard footsteps walking over in my direction and then Erik grabbed my chin and yanked my head up so I looked him in the eye, "You _look_ at the person who is talking to you, didn't your parents teach you that, when they were alive, I mean?" He said snarling, I stared him in the eye defiantly, "I guess I missed that lesson." I said, matching his mean tone.

He let go of me and walked back to his position next to our formation. I turned back to the lady.

Looking in her direction meant that I couldn't help but see the new "subject".

It was James.


	8. Superheroes or Mutant Freaks?

"James?" I breathed, feeling heady. How could James be abnormal? How James, the James that I had known all my life, be anything but normal? I stopped realising that he had known me all his life, but that that hadn't changed anything.

The woman looked over at me, giving me a cursory look before stalking out of the hall. James still stood where he was left and looked a bit lost, Erik walked over to him.

"So what you got, subject?" He said, sticking his chin out.

James looked at him, a bit annoyed, "What?"

"What powers you got?"

James glanced at me, before saying, "I got wings, I can read or project thoughts into other people's minds at will and I'm really strong."

I was dumbfounded. He had wings too? I tried thinking loud to attract his attention.

_JAMES, CAN YOU HEAR ME?_

He jumped a bit and frowned. Erik smirked, "Got a nervous twitch?"

Then, weirdly, his voice was in my head.

_Amelia, don't do that! Oh gosh, how I've missed you. They did all sorts of things to me. Then all this weird stuff started happening to me, I thought I was losing my mind. So today they come and take me to this wack-job. _

He looked at me a bit closer and hiseyebrows knitted together.

_What have they done to you? I swear I will kill them. _

_It's nothing, they make us fight with each other and call it "training"._

_I will make them pay, I swear._

_Cliché much? _

_I'm serious._

"Time for practice, people!" Erik shouted and walked over to the door, swung it open and walked into the next room.

We shuffled after him, James falling in behind me.

_Do you know what we're going to do? _He asked, I was a bit freaked that he could actually be in my head. Suddenly, I had a worrying thought.

_Can you see what's in my head? I mean, thoughts, memories and stuff?_

_If I wanted to, but I would never take advantage of my... uh, power, I guess._

_You better not, the second I feel you messing with my thoughts and your dead meat. _

_Um-hmm, especially with my super strength, of course you'd be able to make mince-meat out of me._

_Shut up. _

We walked into a hall I hadn't been in before. It was brightly lit with linoleum flooring which squeaked under our standard-issue rubber-soled trainers, it had a track in the middle of the room and some weights in the corner and, of course, the whole room was painted white. I freaked out internally when I heard James laugh in my head.

_Lovely decorating._

_Totally. I'm still a bit freaked that you can do this._

_Think how it is my end._

_What colour are your wings. _

_Their-_

He was interrupted by Erik who was pointing to the track, "Get there now."

We walked/trotted there as fast as we could on our little subject feet and lined up at the starting line.

"On your missions, you do a lot of running so you doing 50 laps." He said or rather shouted. Yep, I knew it; he can't speak like a normal person.

I balked at the idea of doing fifty laps. Judging by the light that was filtering in from our tiny window, which was near the ceiling, it was evening. We would be here for most of the night, well, most of us, some of us had super-running abilities. Well, I did, at least.

_He really expects us to do fifty laps? At least you can super-run._

_Ha ha ha, I get one up on yooouuu! _I mock in a sing-song voice.

_You can be so annoying, you know that? _

_Uh-huh, and don't you forget it. _

"GO!" Erik screams and then I'm pelting around the long race track. My feet barely touching the track, my head clears of all thought about being dragged off in the middle of the night, of James, of my parents and whether they were alive or dead.

I hear shouting, but I block it out, just focusing on my running. I pass the slowest runner, lapping before the rest of the team were on the half-way mark. Then I pass everybody else and catch up with James, who gives me a look and I mouth "_What?"_

_Erik is shouting at you._

_Ah. Thanks._

I slow down into a jog and then walk over to Erik, not even out of breath after my run.

Erik folds his arms and glares at me, when Erik glares, it's pretty intimidating. He looks rough, like a hell's angel, with scruffy longish brown hair, piercings everywhere and lots and lots of tattoos.

"You didn't tell me you could super-sprint."

"You didn't ask."

He slaps me and my head whips around from the force of his blow_. _I catch sight of James looking over at us, furious.

I shake my head subtly.

_Don't, James, just don't._

My nose is trickling blood into my mouth, so I spit it out onto the floor beside my sneakers.

"Don't mess with me, brat. We can take you away in the middle of the night, no matter how special you are. No-one will see you again."

I freeze at the thought and decide there will be no back chat from me again. It has no purpose and will only harm me. I will be a good little subject.

"Yes sir."

"Are there any more abilities you have that you would like to share with me?"

"No sir."

"Alright, get back to work. Oh and by the way, you got another 50 laps."

"Yes sir."

I turn away, tears stinging my eyes. I blink them back furiously.

_I must be strong; I can't let anyone see that I'm anything less. I've got no chinks in my armour._

Then I remember that James can see into my head and tell him that he better not be in my head right then or I was going to punch his lights out.

_You already threatened to do that to me, sweetheart._

_Yeah, well, I'm threatening again._

_Sheesh, you're touchy._

_I'm fine._

His voice softens the next time he speaks to me.

_Are you alright?_

I'm not doing very well at keeping my tears at bay, but I turn on my full speed so no-one can see them.

_No-one can be alright in this place, James._

I pass him for the 15th time and see him looking at me worriedly. I just keep on running, not wanting him to worry about me.

Eventually,I finish and I sit down just as Erik shouts at me to get up and lift some weights. It's everything I can do not to scream right back at him, but I just mutter a "yes sir" and walk over to the weights. Everyone else is still running and they all look exhausted. I guess their only on their 30th lap.

One girl, who has long red plaits and is about 10, keels over. I want to help, but I know that if I do, I'll just be hurting myself. Erik strides over to where the girl is lying and hauls her up, screaming at the top of his lungs into the girl's face. She looks so scared, her eyes wide like a deer caught in a pair of headlights.

He throws the girl down and she picks herself off the floor and starts running wearily. I know how she feels, we haven't had dinner yet and I think that everyone feels the effect of it.

Many hours later and our tiring night draws to a close. Dawn is breaking and we'll only be getting half an hour of sleep. We don't get dinner and our hunger pains prohibit any sleep.

As I go to my cell, I hear footsteps following me. Worried that Erik had carried out his threat, I start walking faster and faster until I break into a jog. The person behind me also breaks into a jog and I start running.

_Mia? What's wrong? Stop running!_

_James! You idiot! You just about gave me the fright of my life._

_Sorry. I'm sharing a cell with you, I think. _

_Awesome! They said that the new subject would be sharing with me. At least I don't have some wacko._

_What do you mean "at least"!_

_You know what I mean._

I'm walked into my cell, waving at the CCTV camera as I walk in, then remember my resolve and start mentally screaming at myself.

James walks in after me, "Mia, don't do that. It's hurting my head."

He walks over and gives me a hug. I pull away, not wanting the doctors or whatever they are to see that we're close.

He looks confused and hurt, so I talk to him in my head.

_Showing affection is a bad idea, they could use us to threaten one another. _

_Okay, I see your point. I just can't stand it here! They say that we're special, but nobody really cares about us!_

_I care about you, James. _

_I know you do. I care about you too, Muppet. _

_I thought we got rid of our playschool nicks, Cricket. _

_Guess not... Muppet._

_Just go to sleep already! I'm dead on my feet._

_Oh my goodness... I'm sleeping in the same room as a zombie! Help!_

_Oh, shut up._

_Okay, night!_

_Night._


	9. Military Training

**A/N: Hey guys **

**Thanks for reading, just wanted to let you know, for any Jane Austen fans reading this, I have a Pride and Prejudice story. It's not the best one out there, but I will try and fix it up! R&R!**

We got up half an hour later, which was way too early. I felt like I had been run over by a ten ton truck.

_Hey Muppet! Rise and shine! _

_Stop it. I am so not in the mood for this right now._

_Ooh, someone's in a bad mood. Let's turn that frown upside down!_

_Seriously, James._

_Aww, come on, I was just having a bit of fun. _

_Sorry to rain on your parade, but who are you and what have you done with the real James?_

_I can be fun._

_Really?_

_What's with you?_

_Nothing, I'm tired and miserable, but, hey, that's life._

I get out of bed and look at James, who's smiling at me teasingly.

_We better go before Erik has a heart attack. _

James smiles again, as a fresh onslaught of shouting starts outside again. We get in line with the kids outside and start walking to the food hall or rather the sludge hall, as that's all they served. James and I sat next to Aida.

"Hi." I whispered, not wanting to be overheard.

"Hi."

"How are you?"

"Not good."

"Why?"

She pauses as we attract the attention of a guard and he looks at us coldly. We ignore him and carry on eating our sludge.

"How can you feel good in this place?"

"I guess."

"I'm worried they'll take me."

This captures my attention. "Why?"

"Because Erik says I'm not good enough."

I wish I could protect her, I don't want the only other friend I have in this place to be killed or worse.

"I'll do my best to protect you."

"No! Don't do anything! It'll only hurt you and your friend, promise me that if I get taken away you will do nothing."

"I can't just-"

"Promise me!"

I gave in, "Ok."

As I was about to take another bit of my breakfast, it was snatched away from me.

_I guess breakfast's over then._

_Seems so._

We all stood up together and marched out of the room and back into the training hall.

"Today you'll be fighting again." Erik shouted, making me involuntarily look at Rick, who had been furious at me the past couple of days and probably would've been delighted to fight me again. I doubted I could beat him again.

I was paired up with a girl who looked like she would also welcome a fight. In fact, everybody remotely my age, looked like they wanted to punch someone, probably the tiring nights and the mistreatment, the worry that we would be the next to be taken. We all had to prove that wwe were worthy.

James was the one fighting Rick and I thought to him, _I fought that guy the other day, beat him to a pulp. _

He looked at me, eyes widening a bit.

_This guy?_

_Yep._

The whistle blew and we were smacking each other hard with our fists, trying to get in a good blow, but too afraid to give it our all in case our opponent hurt us. I dropped to the floor as she was swinging to punch me, her missed punch making her fall down and we grappled on the floor for a bit until I kicked her in the chest and her breath left her in an "oomph". I was on top of her instantly, holding her down with my weight. She recovered quickly and punched me in the nose, I heard a crackle in my brain and blood started spurting out. My vision got hazy, but like I had in my last fight, I carried on.

I hurt the girl quite a bit, I didn't want to but I had no choice. James had already finished Rick, I think he could've finished anyone with his super-strength. I sensed him watching us fight and I didn't like to think that he saw me furiously punching another girl.

_Stop watching me, you're making me feel bad and besides, you're distracting me._

_I can't believe this is you._

_Please, James! It's not like I have a choice!_

_I know._

The girl leaped on top off me and I rolled backwards to try and lose her. She toppled off and I stood up and kicked her hard, she gagged and lay still.

I froze, wonder if I killed her? Would I be able to live with myself?

I checked she was still breathing and was satisfied to hear her groan, if you could call it satisfied. I was fuming that they made us do this to one another. They were turning us into monsters.

I felt my nose to see if it was broken, which it wasn't, it was just bleeding a lot. James looked pale and sick.

_Are you OK?_

I heard a short, sharp laugh in my head. _No! No, Mia, I am everything but OK! We are trapped here, because we're freaks. We have no freaking idea whether we will live or die, we're forced to fight one another like animals! I have no idea how you've handled a full week here, but I can' thandle another day here, let alone a lifetime._

_Hang on, James, if not for yourself, but for me._

We assumed our usual formation and Erik stood in front of us.

"You have heard that we are sending you on political missions, well, we are going to be starting to train for an upcoming mission. Outside. Now."

We file outside, into the rain and line up again in front of a barbed wire fence. It's muddy and the rain causes my hair to fall into my face, overall, it's not a good day for military drills. Aida sees my hair falling into my face and silently passes me some string. I tie my hair up in to a bun and stand to attention.

"You're going through that course. You're going to be shooting each other with paint-balls, guns are that way." Erik says, pointing to a container "GO!"

We scamper, slipping and sliding over to the container, and grab a gun. I dive and start army crawling under the barbed wire, holding my gun tightly. The rain has been constant and I make little progress, because I'm slipping so much.

My teeth are chattering and I'm not sure I can last this course without getting a cold or pneumonia. If I do, Erik will still force me to carry on.

I get out the other side and start running towards a rope ladder that leads to a zip-wire, when I see a boy running in the same direction, he hasn't noticed me yet, so I lift up my gun, aim and shoot. He yelps and slips in the mud.

By the time he gets up, I'm up the ladder and flying down the zip-wire. I can't see James and figure he's probably way ahead of me. I jump off the zip wire and hit the ground running. I can't see anyone and I get worried that I'm the last person. I pick up my pace and my feet barely touch the ground as I run as fast as I can through the obstacles and to the finish line. The rain is whipping my face and I can hardly see. Finally, I see a figure, silhouetted against the sky as I reach the finish line.

Erik meets me as I reach the finish line, "First one here, as expected. Took you long enough."

I can't believe it. I am the first one here.

It's a disaster.


	10. A Non-Chapter, READ IT NONETHELESS

Hey guys,

NO, I'M SORRY, THIS ISN'T AN UPDATE! D: D:

Anyway, I have re-written Mutant Freak or What and am going to replace this story with the re-furbished one- so, if you want to grab the original story before it goes, then HURRY :D

LOL,

ZEMONSTARROFSQUISHY X


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